Colonial America, 4th Grade

The fourth graders have recently been learning about Colonial America. To tie our artwork into this theme, we created our own colonial landscapes. We began this project by looking at examples of American Folk art. We noticed how folk art is made very simply with little perspective. Houses are flat and animals drawn simply. This really appeals to the students because it's not threatening.

We then began our own paintings. I began by having the students draw a few hills on their paper. We then used a light watercolor wash to paint the sky and ground. Lastly, we used tempera paint to paint the houses, trees, sheep, and other objects in the pictures.